This invention relates to food products, and more particularly to aqueous carbonated beverages prepared by adding a dry mix to water and carbonating the resulting solution.
The market for carbonated beverages has increased at a dramatic rate, and today is a multi-billion dollar industry. Up to the present, this market has been served almost exclusively by beverages which are pre-carbonated to the proper level for immediate consumption and then packaged in bottles or cans. While carbonation of beverages at the point of consumption, such as soda fountains, has been practiced for years, preparation of point-of-consumption individual servings of carbonated beverages in the home has not thus far been greeted with wide acceptance.
One method of making carbonated beverages in the home involves the dilution of flavor syrups to the proper concentration and carbonating the resulting solution, such as would be done at a soda fountain. However, such an approach is overly burdensome for the volume of carbonated beverages consumed in a home, involves the procurement, and correct dilution of, the flavor syrups, and hence has not met with wide popularity. Another method of making carbonated beverages in the home involves the use of dry mixes containing flavors and sugars along with a gas generation system. This type of drink has also not gained wide consumer acceptance since consumers find that the flavor of carbonated beverages produced from mixes does not equal, in both intensity and quality, the flavor of pre-carbonated and bottled beverages.
In order to obtain a beverage having a flavor which consumers regard as "typical" for that type of a drink, it is necessary to incorporate all flavor components, including flavor components present in only small amounts, into the flavor base or concentrate. It has been found that even a relatively small difference in beverage flavor from that considered typical for a particular beverage will not be accepted by consumers.
The flavor of carbonated beverages is developed in part through proper acidulation which points up, or complements, the associated flavor. One of the acids commonly employed for flavor development is phosphoric acid which has found wide use in the more heavy leaf, root, nut, or herbal flavors. Some of the more common types of carbonated beverages utilizing phosphoric acid are colas, root beers, and sarsaparillas.
For beverage flavors which contain phosphoric acid, serious problems are presented when attempts are made to dehydrate the beverage flavor base to form a dry mix. This is due to the extreme hygroscopicity and reactivity of phosphoric acid in dry form. If a dry beverage mix is made containing dehydrated phosphoric acid and sugar, the acid is so extremely hygroscopic that it dehydrates the sugar leaving a black, charred, tarry substance after only a short storage time. Even if the beverage sugar content is separated from the acid, the acid will react with other flavor components to destroy the typical flavor of the rehydrated beverage. Substitutions of other readily dehydratable acids for the phosphoric acid may be made, but this results in flavor changes in beverages, such as colas, which depend upon their phosphoric acid content as an essential component of their flavor.
It is also known that part of the unique cola flavor is due to the interaction between the phosphoric acid and other flavor components during an aging period of the liquid flavor base. If the phosphoric acid is not mixed with the other flavor components but dehydrated separately in the manufacture of a dry beverage mix, this interaction during aging cannot occur and the full cola flavor will not develop.
Thus, in order to prepare dry instant mixes for flavored beverages which contain phosphoric acid as a flavor component and acidulant, it is necessary to include the phosphoric acid in the liquid flavor base, but also ultimately provide it in a dry, non-reactive form so as to insure stability of the dry mix during handling and storage before use.
Another disadvantage of dry beverage mixes is the relatively slow dissolution rate of the sugars (usually sucrose) in the mix. In beverage mixes developed so far, dissolution is obtained only upon stirring and after a period of at least several minutes. As can be appreciated by all who labor, this extra preparation time and effort is extremely disadvantageous to the tired, thirsty consumer who turns to a carbonated beverage as a readily accessible and convenient item of cold, liquid refreshment.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to form a dry beverage mix utilizing phosphoric acid present in a relatively non-hygroscopic and stable form as a flavoring ingredient and acidulant.
It is also an object of the present invention to form such a dry beverage mix by dehydrating a flavor base which has been aged with all flavor components, including phosphoric acid, contained therein.
It is a further object of the present invention to form a dry beverage mix having an extremely rapid dissolution rate upon contact with water and which requires only a minimum amount of agitation for dissolution in an aqueous solution to form a beverage in a short period of time.
Still another object of the present invention is to furnish the consumer with a convenient method for preparing carbonated beverages equal in level and quality of flavor to pre-carbonated, bottled beverages.
These and other objects of the present invention will become readily apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the disclosure and appended claims which follow.